Honeydew Lime and Mint Paletas

Here’s the thing about food blogging. It is NOT easy. Take this picture for example. When I shot it, I thought there was enough lighting with a clean background, and that the paletas would show well against the black slate. After uploading them onto my laptop and going through them, I now see that the lighting was too bright, and the dark contrast of the slate tile did nothing to bring out the lime-green color in the paletas. The light went straight through them.

Considering my first picture taken at night with the flash on years ago (cringing inside), which by the way is locked away in an external hard drive with other old and grossly shot images, this one is significantly cleaner, clearer, brighter, and more appealing to a paleta loving soul. What I still have a difficult time figuring out though, is how to get the right lighting that will capture the actual colors all the time. If you were to go on Instagram and see the picture I shared while writing this post, you will see what I’m talking about.

The picture above was taken during the day with the sunlight coming in from the right side. The picture on IG on the other hand, was taken without any direct light hitting the paleta, and it was way later in the day. You can see the difference! That is something that drives me bananas. Some days are easy with ideal lighting, other days, I struggle to find the right spot for the shot. Hey, that rhythms!

It’s a constant learning game. Just like any career, blogging as a profession requires continuous education. Bloggers who love what they do are always learning, soaking everything in to fine-tune the bits and pieces that are essential to the craft. We learn something new with each blog post; such as, how not to take a picture of a honeydew lime & mint paleta.

These paletas remind of a blogger friend of mine – Vanessa from De Su Mama. Every time I see her, she reminds me of how important it is to push forward, keep moving, keep learning, and not to quit. She once said to me, “You have to put yourself out there and work hard at it if you want to grow.” Those may not be the exact words she used, but it’s pretty close. And then she scolded me about not having a paleta recipe on my blog. She was compiling a list of paleta recipes to share in an article she was writing and came to see if I had one she could share. There wasn’t one. And in her own caring big sister way, she told me I needed to get my shit together.

I love her veracious spirit.

This one is for you, Vanessa.

In a medium pot, warm the water, sugar, and mint leaves until all the sugar has dissolved. Turn off the burner and let the water cool for 15 minutes.

When the water is cool enough, pour it into a blender with the honeydew melon and lime juice. Blend for about 30 seconds then add the lime zest. Blend once more until there are no pieces of melon left.

Pour it all into a freezer-safe bowl and chill in the freezer for 2 hours or until it starts to look like a slurpie. Once it starts to freeze, give it a good stir, and evenly distribute it all into the molds with a funnel.

This step is optional. What this does is help the pulp stay where it is when it’s poured into the molds. Without this step, the pulp will rise to the top of the mold, making the top of the paletas (flipped right side up) mostly water based.

Here’s another example of poor lighting. You’ll notice the lid for the paleta mold is darker than in the picture above. The day slipped by me so fast, I didn’t get a chance to finish taking pictures before the sun went down.

Place the lid on top and insert the popsicle sticks in their place. Freeze overnight.

If you are experiencing heat anything like we are in Central Cali, these will help you cool down for a bit.

In a medium pot, warm the water, sugar, and mint leaves until all the sugar has dissolved. Turn off the burner and let the water cool for 15 minutes. When the water is cool enough, pour it into a blender with the honeydew melon and lime juice. Blend for about 30 seconds then add the lime zest. Blend once more until there are no pieces of melon left.

Pour it all into a freezer-safe bowl and chill in the freezer for 2 hours or until it starts to look like a slurpie. This step is optional. What this does is help the pulp stay where it is when it’s poured into the molds. Without this step, the pulp will rise to the top, making the tops of the paletas mostly water based. Once it starts to freeze, give it a good stir and evenly distribute it all into the molds.

Place the lid on top and insert the popsicle stick in their place and freeze overnight. If you are experiencing heat anything like we are in Central Cali, these will help you cool down for a bit.

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